ABORIGINAL SKIN-DRESSING. 575 



he simply divided the skin all around, posterior to the external nostrils, 

 and the operation of removing the hide was completed. (PI. LXI.) 

 He next proceeded to dig a hole in the ground about as big as a bushel. 

 The bottom of this excavation was tramped hard with his feet and the 

 hide placed therein, hair side up, and immediately covered with cold 

 water. On top of the hide he placed a camp-kettle bottom side up, 

 and braced it down with the spade. This was to prevent the skin from 

 drying and to keep the dogs from eating it during the night. 



" In the morning he left the camp with an axe to soon return with 

 the trunk of a small pine tree. At its thickest end it was about G 

 inches through, and about 4 inches at the smaller extremity. From 

 one side of the larger half he removed the bark, completely exposing 

 the smooth surface of the wood beneath it. He next cut a deep notch in 

 the big end of this stick, so as to assist in bracing it against the limb of 

 a small cedar tree near by, with the smooth surface facing him and the 

 small end of the stick resting firmly upon the ground some two feet 

 from the base of the cedar tree. Around about was plentifully be- 

 strewn some clean short hay, to prevent the hide from being soiled 

 upon the ground beneath. He now returned to the hole where the 

 skin had remained over night, and it was taken out to be washed in 

 clean water, when he proceeded with a sharp knife to remove all super- 

 fluous tissue from its raw side, skinned the ears carefully by removing 

 completely the cartilaginous parts, then cleared away the muscles 

 which had remained attached about their bases, trimmed off the remains 

 of the panniculus muscle, and indeed left nothiug but a thoroughly 

 clean hide which received its final dip in clear water. 



" It was now ready to have the hair shaved from it. The tanner 

 obtained his scrapers from the bones of the fore limb of the deer he had 

 killed, and the ulna and radius of this limb are wonderfully well fitted 

 to perform the work of this natural spoke-shave. These bones, as we 

 well know, are, in a deer, as m many other hoofed animals, quite 

 firmly united together, having a form well known to the comparative 

 osteologist. The shaft of the ulna, which is closely approximated to 

 the shaft of the radius, has its posterior edge thin and sharp, which is 

 still further improved by the tanner scraping it with his knife. The 

 olecranon process, with the deep sigmoid notch, forms an excellent 

 handle at one end, while the enlarged distal end of the radius, with the 

 carpal bones, which are usually left attached, forms a good one at the 

 other. Moreover, the curvature of the shafts of this consolidated bone 

 is favorable for the use of our Indian tanner, who, in using this primi- 

 tive instrument, slings it at either end in his hands, and works with it 

 in shaving off the hair much iu the same manner as one of our carpen- 

 ters uses a spoke-shave, only here the sharp edge of the ulna bone takes 

 the place of the knife-edge iu doing its special work. (Plate LXII.) 



" Before proceeding further I should mention that, after removing the 

 hide, on the first day he placed the skinned head of the deer, without 



